Finder Palette is a file launch and organizational utility. With Finder Palette, you install links to your frequently-used applications, folders, desk accessories, etc., in a special launch palette. You then use the launch palette to launch/open those frequently-used files.
With Finder Palette, you are not required to place your frequently-used files in a special folder (like you are required to do with Apple Menu Items). Since files can be located anywhere on your hard disk, the installation process is simple. And, as you will see, customizing Finder Palette to suit your personal preferences is a breeze.
The launch palette contains an array of 3-dimensional buttons (or cells) that are labeled with the icon of the installed file or folder. Finder Palette supports the new System 7 color icons, including custom icons, and properly hilites them (instead of simply inverting the colors).
Finder Palette's user interface was constructed with navigational speed in mind. All of the functions can be invoked from the either the keyboard or the mouse, eliminating the need to switch back and forth between the two. Even check boxes, radio buttons, and push buttons in dialog windows can be selected from the keyboard. And the launch palette can be accessed almost anytime using user-configurable “hot keys” and/or “hot corners”.
Requirements
• System 7.0 or later.
• 150K of RAM is required.
• A hard disk is required.
• Finder Palette looks best on color monitors with at least 16 colors (and so do the file icons), but it works quite well on black and white monitors, too.
Quick Start
This section describes how to use Finder Palette for the first time. We're assuming you've already copied the Finder Palette application to your hard disk, and that you've launched the copy that now resides on your hard disk. The first time you launch Finder Palette, you will be presented with a launch palette (window) with 20 empty cells.
• Step 1. Quickly browse through the online help manual by selecting the “Finder Palette Help…” command in the Apple Help menu.
• Step 2. Once you're ready to begin installing files and folders into the launch palette, select a cell by clicking in it with the mouse, or by using the arrow, tab, home, or end keys.
• Step 3. Install an application, desk accessory, folder, etc., by double-clicking in the empty cell, or by selecting the Install… command in the Finder Palette menu. Use the standard “open file” dialog to locate the file or folder that you wish to install.
• Step 4. Now, try the launch features of Finder Palette by double-clicking the cell that you just installed a file or folder in.
• Step 5. Return to Finder Palette and install some more files or folders by repeating Steps 2 and 3 above.
• Step 6. Now might be a good time to customize Finder Palette. Select the Preferences… command in the Finder Palette menu. Experiment with the options a little bit to see how they work. Decide which of them you would like to use.
• Step 7. You may also want to change the configuration of the launch palette itself (dimensions, location of drag bar, etc.). If so, select the Configure… command in the Finder Palette menu.
• Step 8. Save the settings, either by selecting the Save Settings command in the File menu, or simply by quitting the program.
Registration Info
Finder Palette is being released as shareware (i.e., try before you buy). Try it for 15 days. If you like it and decide to keep it, please purchase a registered copy of the program by sending check, cash, or money order, in the amount of $20 U.S. to:
Anchor Beech Software
8131 Fairwood Circle
Anchorage, AK 99518
Please make checks payable to Anchor Beech Software. We appreciate your honesty in registering a licensed copy of Finder Palette. Include an address (U.S. mail and/or e-mail...CompuServe, America Online, or Internet) where you can be contacted for upgrade information (see below).
In return, registered owners of Finder Palette will receive the following:
(1) A printed copy of the Finder Palette User's Guide containing more detail than the online help utility contains.
(2) A floppy disk containing over 100 of my favorite custom folder and file icons (in living System 7 color!). The custom folder icons are especially useful if you plan to install several folders onto the launch palette (i.e., you can customize the individual folder icons so that you can tell them apart).
(3) One (1) major program upgrade (an example of a major upgrade would be from Version 1.0 to Version 2.0).
(4) Notices of significant program upgrades. We will notify you via e-mail (CompuServe, America Online, or the Internet), or U.S. mail, or both, depending on your preference.
Macintosh users who do not have access to electronic bulletin boards and online services that distribute shareware software may obtain a copy of Finder Palette by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope and an 800K floppy disk to the U.S. Mail addressed listed in the Correspondence section below. People outside the U.S. should send an international postal reply coupon instead of U.S. stamps (available from any post office). Please use sturdy envelopes, preferably cardboard disk mailers.
Correspondence
The author welcomes suggestions for improving Finder Palette, including reports of potential software bugs. The author can be reached at any of the following addresses:
Finder Palette is a shareware application. It may be freely distributed or placed on electronic bulletin boards or online services, provided the software and its associated documentation files (in unaltered form) are kept together. The software may not be sold or distributed for profit, or included with other software that is sold or distributed for profit, without the written permission of Anchor Beech Software.
Site licenses are available for the use of Finder Palette within an organization. Please contact Anchor Beech Software at the address listed in the Correspondence section for more information.
Finder Palette has been extensively tested by a group of beta testers using a variety of Mac CPUs, including the Mac II, IIx, IIcx, IIci, IIsi, and IIfx. However, neither the author nor Anchor Beech Software make any warranty, either expressed or implied, with respect to this software. Use it at your own risk.
Version History
• Version 1.0, February 14,1992. First public release.
• Version 1.0b16, February 13, 1992. Completed the online help manual. Prepared the program for public release (created the Read Me file, etc.).
• Version 1.0b15, January 27, 1992. Totally revamped the edit logic. All of the cell information is now loaded into memory from the settings file and handled completely separate from the Resource Manager. Improved the routines that save the palette settings; removed the auto-save feature. Made other miscellaneous changes.
• Version 1.0b13 and 1.0b14, December, 1991 to January 1992. Added to the online help manual. Made some memory, AppleEvents, and other miscellaneous improvements. Added an auto-save feature to save the settings file after 10 edit commands. Reduced the size of “hot corner” rectangles.
• Version 1.0b12, December 19, 1991. Added “hot corners”. Fixed the Launch submenu so that filename meta-characters (parentheses, slashes, etc.) are ignored.
• Version 1.0b11, December 11, 1991. Added keyboard shortcuts to the online help dialog, and the About… box. Set the default “hot key” to command-escape. Made other miscellaneous changes.
• Version 1.0b10, November 25, 1991. Combined the “Windows” and “Catapult” menus together into a single “Finder Palette” menu with a Launch submenu. Made a completely new, more informative About… box. Added the Launch pop-up menu. Converted the program name from Catapult to Finder Palette.
• Version 1.0b9, November 21, 1991. Added an online help dialog that is accessible from the Apple Help menu. Revamped the Get Info… dialog box. Added the Finder Info… command (button) to the Get Info… dialog. Improved the color icon plotting routines, and made other miscellaneous changes. Began converting the program name to Finder Palette.
• Version 1.0b8, November 6, 1991. Finished installation of the required AppleEvents. Fixed the icon plotting routines to support the special System folder types (Apple Menu Items, Control Panels, etc.). Made other miscellaneous changes.
• Version 1.0b7, November 5, 1991. Added the ability to launch control panel devices (cdevs), folders, and the system clipboard file. Added color icons to all standard alert dialogs.
• Version 1.0b6, October 17, 1991. Added the Launch Other Document… feature. Added more animation to the About… box. Fixed a bug in the “hot keys” logic (was forgetting the Catapult process serial number). Made other miscellaneous changes.
• Version 1.0b5, October 11, 1991. Added an animated About… box.
• Version 1.0b4, October 9, 1991. Implemented the Preferences… interface, and the “hot key” and Get Info… features. Added the Launch/Install menu item. Gave buttons a 3D appearance and fixed the icon blinking in 1- and 2-bit monitor settings. Added functionality to the F1 thru F4 keys (undo, cut, copy, paste), and the clear key (clear). Made other miscellaneous changes.
• Version 1.0b3, September 24, 1991. Added the ability to install the Finder as you would any other application. Added a rudimentary “hot key” feature (hardwired as shift-option-command).
• Version 1.0b2, September 23, 1991. Modified the “Getting Icon Information” progress bar. Improved the icon retrieval and plotting routines, and made other miscellaneous changes.
• Version 1.0b1, September 18, 1991. First beta release. Program named Catapult. Several improvements were made to the development version of Catapult—better file handling; support for color, black and white, and System 7 custom icons; icons loaded into memory instead of being grabbed on the fly; added the “Getting Icon Information” progress bar; gave the launch palette buttons a 3D appearance (4- and 8-bit monitor settings only); a double-click in the title bar will issue the “Move Palette to Corner” command; added functionality to the arrow, tab, home, end, and escape keys.
